In The News

How the World Sees the US Protests: Guardian

Uki Goñi, Lily Kuo , Jason Burke, Tom Phillips, Sam Jones and Julian Borger June 8, 2020
The US presidential election is less than five months away, and the decision about who leads the world’s largest economy and military impacts the rest of the world. More than 10 straight days of US protests demonstrate a deep divide. Protests began after police killed a handcuffed black man, despite pleas from horrified witnesses videotaping the death – just one among many such videos in recent...

Pentagon Sends Troops to DC: Stars and Stripes

Corey Dickstein June 3, 2020
Protests sweep throughout the United States after a handcuffed man died in police custody in Minneapolis. Onlookers filmed and pleaded with police officers to stop, after one held his knee to the back of the man’s neck for more than eight minutes. Some extremists disrupt the peaceful protests, and Donald Trump, stating he wanted to end rioting and property destruction, ordered active-duty troops...

China-India Border Standoff: CBS

Arshad R. Zargar May 29, 2020
China and India move troops to a disputed border, and the US president offered to mediate. “Thousands of Chinese troops have reportedly moved into an area along the eastern Ladakh border, which India considers its territory,” reports CBS News. The two nations share a border that is about 3,400 kilometers long, and both “accuse the other of trespassing.” An India television station reports that...

Moment of Truth for Hong Kong and China: The Hill

Joseph Bosco May 27, 2020
China violates international norms on a number of fronts, from failure to protect intellectual property to ongoing support for North Korea, writes Joseph Bosco for the Hill. Many democracies, eager to protect business interests with the world’s second largest economy, remain silent about steady erosion in rights. In the midst of the pandemic, China moves to take more control over Hong Kong,...

US to Withdraw From Open Skies Treaty: NYT

David E. Sanger May 23, 2020
US President Donald Trump will inform Russia that the United States will begin a six-month clock to withdraw from the Open Skies Treaty – “negotiated three decades ago to allow nations to fly over each other’s territory with elaborate sensor equipment to assure that they are not preparing for military action,” reports David Sanger for the New York Times. Sanger expresses concern that the next...

Terrorists Storm Hospital: Afghanistan Times

Faizi Mansour May 13, 2020
May 12 was a particularly brutal day in Afghanistan. “Terrorists stormed a maternity hospital in west of Kabul on Tuesday morning, killing at least 16 people including four women and children and injured 16 others, in a gun battle with security forces that lasted for hours,” reports Afghanistan Times. Also, “More than 24 others were killed in a suicide bombing at a funeral in eastern Nangarhar.”...

Turkish Strategy - Libya’s Haftar on Defensive: DW

Tom Allinson May 7, 2020
Since 2014, two factions have divided Libya: Libyan National Army forces in the east led by Khalifa Haftar, supported by the UAE, France and Russian mercenaries, versus Fayez Serraj's Government of National Accord in the west, recognized by the United Nations and supported by Turkey and Syrian mercenaries. Control has shifted abruptly to the GNA side, Reports Tom Allinson for Deutsche Welle...